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Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report feature highlights recent blogs

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

11 Jun 2008

CMS announces $15 million funding increase for Medicare counseling programs

CMS officials on Friday announced that the agency this year will increase funding by $15 million to a total of $50 million to organizations that advise Medicare beneficiaries on prescription drug and health plan choices, CQ HealthBeat reports.

11 Jun 2008

Agfa HealthCare assigned second phase RIS/PACS agreement with First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University

Agfa HealthCare has announced that it has been chosen to implementation a second phase RIS/PACS program at The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University in China.

10 Jun 2008

Philadelphia Inquirer examines health care price transparency issue

The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday examined the issue of "price transparency," in which hospitals and health systems make their charges for treatments more apparent.

10 Jun 2008

Panel discusses expanding health coverage to uninsured via 'early Medicare' program

At a panel discussion on Friday, lawmakers and health experts considered a Commonwealth Fund proposal that would provide health insurance to 44 million of the 48 million uninsured U.S. residents, CQ HealthBeat reports (Wyckoff, CQ HealthBeat, 6/6).

10 Jun 2008

Decision by Democratic Presidential Candidate Clinton to suspend campaign decreases prospects for individual health insurance mandate, Wall Street Journal reports

The recent decision by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) to suspend her campaign "will deal a blow to supporters of a key element in the tussle over universal health coverage: the idea that all Americans be required to buy or have health insurance," the Wall Street Journal reports.

10 Jun 2008

Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft launch personal electronic health records pilot program

Officials from Kaiser Permanente and Microsoft on Monday announced that the companies are developing a patient information exchange pilot program, Reuters/Washington Post reports (Kaufman, Reuters/Washington Post, 6/9).

10 Jun 2008

New Jersey lawmakers advance bill that would require income verification of all state-funded health insurance program applicants

A New Jersey Assembly committee on Thursday approved a bill that would require state authorities to conduct income verification checks on individuals applying for state-funded health insurance coverage, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

10 Jun 2008

CQ's Carey discusses Democratic, GOP Medicare proposals, VA mental health bill, health care IT measure

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate Democratic and Republican measures to halt a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees; Senate legislation involving veterans' mental health; and a House bill that encourages greater adoption of electronic health records in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

10 Jun 2008

Congressional Democrats move to impose new limits on specialty hospitals

The New York Times on Sunday examined how Democrats -- who for years "have been trying to stop the proliferation of doctor-owned hospitals in the belief that they drive up costs by encouraging doctors to order more procedures" -- have moved to "impose new restrictions on these for-profit hospitals" as part of a Senate supplemental war appropriations bill, although they have "carved out exemptions for a few institutions represented by influential senators and well-connected lobbyists."

10 Jun 2008

New Indigenous health clinics commence

A group of Sydney University's top medics will travel to the New South Wales towns of Brewarrina and Bourke tomorrow (11 June) for the first of the newly established Indigenous clinics run by Sydney University's Poche Centre for Indigenous Health.

10 Jun 2008

Louisiana's Charity Hospitals need $35 million to continue services at current levels

Louisiana's Charity Hospitals will have to begin cutting services this summer unless the state Legislature provides them with an additional $35 million, Louisiana State University officials told the state Senate Finance Committee on Monday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

8 Jun 2008

Massachusetts employers, insurers lobby against higher employer fees for uninsured workers, support cost control efforts

Massachusetts businesses and most of the state's health insurers on Wednesday announced the formation of the Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage, a lobbying group that will work to control rising health care costs in the state and prevent cost-shifting to employers, the Boston Globe reports.

8 Jun 2008

House panel hearing focuses on health IT privacy, cost concerns

Lawmakers, patient-privacy and health care advocates, and information technology experts on Tuesday "debated ... how Congress can strike a balance between accelerating the adoption of a nationwide system of electronic medical records while protecting patient privacy," CongressDaily reports (Noyes, CongressDaily, 6/4).

8 Jun 2008

Senate Finance Committee hears testimony on health IT, quality of care, medical liability laws in preparation for major health system overhaul efforts next year

Lawmakers should not overstate the ability of health care information technology, quality improvement efforts and medical liability reform to reduce health care costs, Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, testified on Tuesday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, CQ HealthBeat reports.

8 Jun 2008

Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Obama criticizes health care proposal of opponent McCain

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Thursday during a rally at a Bristol, Va., high school said that the health care proposal of presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) would not expand health insurance to all U.S. residents, the Washington Times reports.

8 Jun 2008

Kansas Health Institute News Service examines prospects for expanding health coverage in state

The Kansas Health Institute News Service on Monday in a series of articles examined prospects for expanding health coverage in Kansas this year.

8 Jun 2008

Connecticut lawmaker asks Gov. Rell to delay implementation of Charter Oak health plan

Connecticut House Majority Leader Christopher Donovan (D) on Tuesday asked Gov. Jodie Rell (R) to delay implementing a new health plan for uninsured adults because of concerns that it could disrupt care for children in low-income families, the Hartford Courant reports.

8 Jun 2008

Health care legislation might not top next administration's agenda, former house leader says

Legislation that would overhaul the U.S. health care system might take a back seat to other issues for the next administration, former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) said Thursday at a health care policy forum, CQ HealthBeat reports. The forum was sponsored by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases and Emory University's Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions.

8 Jun 2008

Walgreen agrees to pay $35 million to settle allegations of improper medication switches for Medicaid beneficiaries

Walgreen has agreed to pay $35 million to settle allegations that the company improperly switched the form of generic medications prescribed to Medicaid beneficiaries to receive higher reimbursements from the program, the Hartford Courant reports (Levick, Hartford Courant, 6/5).

8 Jun 2008

Healthcare News

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report feature highlights recent blogs

CMS announces $15 million funding increase for Medicare counseling programs

Agfa HealthCare assigned second phase RIS/PACS agreement with First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University

Philadelphia Inquirer examines health care price transparency issue

Panel discusses expanding health coverage to uninsured via 'early Medicare' program

Decision by Democratic Presidential Candidate Clinton to suspend campaign decreases prospects for individual health insurance mandate, Wall Street Journal reports

Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft launch personal electronic health records pilot program

New Jersey lawmakers advance bill that would require income verification of all state-funded health insurance program applicants

CQ's Carey discusses Democratic, GOP Medicare proposals, VA mental health bill, health care IT measure

Congressional Democrats move to impose new limits on specialty hospitals

New Indigenous health clinics commence

Louisiana's Charity Hospitals need $35 million to continue services at current levels

Massachusetts employers, insurers lobby against higher employer fees for uninsured workers, support cost control efforts

House panel hearing focuses on health IT privacy, cost concerns

Senate Finance Committee hears testimony on health IT, quality of care, medical liability laws in preparation for major health system overhaul efforts next year

Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Obama criticizes health care proposal of opponent McCain

Kansas Health Institute News Service examines prospects for expanding health coverage in state

Connecticut lawmaker asks Gov. Rell to delay implementation of Charter Oak health plan

Health care legislation might not top next administration's agenda, former house leader says

Walgreen agrees to pay $35 million to settle allegations of improper medication switches for Medicaid beneficiaries

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

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